The Effect of Peer and Small-Group Feedback on Iranian EFL Learners’ Writing Ability

Writing in English is often regarded as the most difficult of the four English language skills. Feedback is considered an essential component of the writing process as it helps students improve their writing skills. There is a general agreement that waiting for the instructor’s feedback in a large class is impractical; therefore, implementing "peer input" in the writing classroom is a problem. The effectiveness of peer feedback in improving students' writing skills has been dealt with in many research works. However, how peer feedback should be done has been ignored and is only used in restricted circumstances. In this study, two kinds of peer feedback were examined to see which one had the most impact on students’ writing. The sample comprised ۶۵ EFL students from South Tehran Branch (Islamic Azad University). Results showed that providing students with online-class peer feedback and small group peer feedback improved their writing skills. However, neither of these approaches proved to be more successful than the other. As an implication of this study, universities need to adopt an engaging, practical, collaborative, and nonthreatening approach to writing which will help students develop their writing skills towards global communicative competence.

کلیدواژه ها:

EFL” ، “online-class” ، “peer feedback” ، “small-group feedback” ، “writing skill”.